US20110249144A1 - Tagging Images in a Mobile Communications Device Using a Contacts List - Google Patents

Abstract

An improved image tagging system that tags images in a mobile handheld communications device, based on the user's contacts list stored therein. The image tagging system compares a face in a given picture (that the user has just taken using the built-in camera) to faces in the user's contacts list images. A matching contact is found in the contacts list. The picture is then tagged with information from the matching contact. The picture is tagged by inserting identification information into a header of the picture.

Description

BACKGROUND
• An embodiment of the invention generally relates to an image name tagging application that tags an image based on a contacts list stored in a portable handheld electronic communications device. Other embodiments are also described.
• Modern portable electronic communications devices such as smart phones often include a digital camera. Incorporation of cameras into portable electronic devices has eased the process of capturing digital images of friends and families and accordingly has resulted in large expansion in the amount of images a user takes. In an attempt to organize this abundance of images, users have begun to classify each image based on the persons depicted in the image. Software is now available that can detect and analyze a face in the image, prompt the user to give a name for the face, and then digitally tag the image with the name.
SUMMARY
• Organizing images by tagging identification information of individuals into each image is useful; however, this method of managing digital images suffers from implementation drawbacks in the case of camera-enabled portable handheld communications devices such as smart phones and cellular phones. In particular, the effort required to manually tag a large set of images may render the task impractical. Further, although software on desktop and notebook computers may be capable of providing some level of automatic tagging of digital images, these applications require images to be offloaded from the handheld device onto the desktop or notebook computer prior to being tagged. Additionally, these applications require substantial user interaction to properly tag each image.
• An embodiment of the invention is directed to an improved image tagging system that tags images in a mobile handheld communications device, based on the user's contacts list stored therein. In one embodiment, the image tagging system compares a face in a given picture (that the user has just taken using the built-in camera) to faces in the user's contacts list images. A matching contact is located in the contacts list. The picture is then tagged with information from the matching contact. In one embodiment, the picture is tagged by inserting identification information into a header of the picture.
• In a further embodiment, the accuracy of the face identification may be enhanced when the device can also access a second database of images that have been mapped to individuals (who are likely to also appear in the user's contact list). The second database may be more complete than the contacts list data structure, in that it can have more instances of an individual's face.
• The above summary does not include an exhaustive list of all aspects of the present invention. It is contemplated that the invention includes all systems and methods that can be practiced from all suitable combinations of the various aspects summarized above, as well as those disclosed in the Detailed Description below and particularly pointed out in the claims filed with the application. Such combinations have particular advantages not specifically recited in the above summary.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
• The embodiments of the invention are illustrated by way of example and not by way of limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings in which like references indicate similar elements. It should be noted that references to “an” or “one” embodiment of the invention in this disclosure are not necessarily to the same embodiment, and they mean at least one.
• FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an image sharing system, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
• FIG. 2 is a data flow or algorithm of a process or application for tagging an image in a mobile device.
• FIG. 3 is a screenshot of a camera interface window in which a user may enter a command to capture an image, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
• FIG. 4 show an example image in which a face has been detected and located, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
• FIG. 5 is an example contacts list stored in a mobile device, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
• FIG. 6 is an example verification interface for verifying a matching contact, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
• FIG. 7 shows example metadata of an image that has been tagged, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
• FIG. 8 is a screenshot of an image viewing application displaying a tagged image, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
• FIG. 9 is a system diagram of an image tagging system, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
• Several embodiments of the invention with reference to the appended drawings are now explained. While numerous details are set forth, it is understood that some embodiments of the invention may be practiced without these details. In other instances, well-known circuits, structures, and techniques have not been shown in detail so as not to obscure the understanding of this description.
• FIG. 1 illustrates animage sharing system100 in which an embodiment of the invention operates. Theimage sharing system100 includes amobile communications device102 and one ormore recipient terminals104.
• Thedevice102 includes an integratedcamera108 which is capable of capturing still images and/or video. In one embodiment, thedevice102 includes atouch screen110 which permits a user of thedevice102 to input commands to control camera functions (e.g. enable automatic picture tagging; shutter release; and picture transfer). Thedevice102 may be a cellular phone or smart phone (mobile, handheld, multi-function communications device) that can access a network for communications with a remote terminal (referred to here simply as “mobile device”). In one embodiment, themobile device102 includes a camera application program which is capable of automatically tagging an image (or a picture) which has just been taken, with one or more matching names of a contacts list stored in themobile device102. The tagged image may then be stored in the mobile device and then transmitted to one or more recipient terminals104 (external devices). This may be done via a network which may be a cellular telephone network or a wireless local area network that provides access to the Internet (e.g. for email messaging, voice over IP telephony, or MMS messaging). Alternatively, the transfer may be over a peer-to-peer, direct connection (e.g. a wireless ad-hoc network mode of operation, a wired computer peripheral serial bus link, e.g Universal Serial Bus, USB connection).
• Therecipient terminals104 may be any device or system capable of receiving images from themobile device102. For example, arecipient terminal104 may be another mobile device, a personal digital assistant, a desktop or laptop computer, an entertainment system, or an internet-based image hosting service (e.g. Picasa™, Flikr®, Facebook®, and MySpace™). In one embodiment, therecipient terminals104 are capable of communicating over a telephone network and receiving Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) messages that can contain one or more tagged images.
• For a more detailed look at the operation of themobile device102,FIG. 2 illustrates a flowchart or algorithm for a tagging application200 that has configured or programmed one or more microelectronic data processing components and their associated data storage components of the mobile device102 (e.g. an applications processor and integrated circuit memory; a digital signal processor; a microcontroller) to perform the recited operations. The following references to the “tagging application” are interchangeable with “tagging process”, which is the process that is performed by themobile device102 when running the tagging application.
• The tagging application200 may have two phases of operation: an identification phase201aand an image tagging phase201b. In the identification phase201a, the tagging application200 identifies a face in an image by associating the face with a matching contact in a contact list stored in the portableelectronic device102. In the image tagging phase201b, the tagging application200 tags the image with identification information of the matching contact (that also may have been verified) and may prepare the image for transmission from themobile device102 to one ormore recipient terminals104. Each of these phases201a,201bwill be discussed in further detail below through the use of example implementations.
• Identification Phase
• The tagging application200 may begin by first performing the operations of the identification phase201a. In one embodiment, the identification phase201aof the tagging application200 automatically commences operation in response to a user command to capture animage204 using the integrated camera108 (also referred to as shutter release) atoperation202. As used herein, “capturing an image” and derivatives are understood as a process of conversion of light waves that are sensed by an electronic imager, such as a charge-coupled device (CCD) or a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) chip, into a digital image comprised of pixels. Theimage204 may be stored in either transitory or persistent memory in a digital image file format (e.g. Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG), Exchangeable image file format (Exif), Tagged Image File Format (TIFF), Portable Network Graphics (PNG), RAW image file format, Graphics Interchange Format (GIF), BMP file format, Netpbm file format). In another embodiment, the identification phase201acommences operation after being manually invoked by a user such that the tagging application200 operates on a previously capturedimage204 stored in themobile device102.
• FIG. 3 shows anexample camera interface300 in which a user can preview a scene before thecamera108 and may enter a command to capture an image of the scene (and consequently commence operation of the identification phase201aof the tagging application200). In this particular example of thecamera interface300, the user is presented with anoptical representation302 of theimage204 to be captured, using atouch screen110 of the portableelectronic device102. The user inputs a command to capture theimage204 by selecting avirtual button304 on thetouch screen110. After the user has activated thevirtual button304, theintegrated camera108 responds by capturing theimage204 according to theoptical representation302 and stores theimage204 in themobile device102.
• Following the capture or receipt of an image by themobile device102,operation206 of the identification phase201amay automatically commence processing of theimage204.Operation206 scans the image to determine an area or areas of theimage204 that contain a face. A face as used herein refers to the central sense organ of a human or animal which typically is comprised of hair, forehead, eyebrows, eyes, nose, ears, cheeks, mouth, lips, philtrum, teeth, skin, and chin. In one embodiment,operation206 determines only the areas of theimage204 that contain human faces. In another embodiment,operation206 determines the areas of theimage204 that contain a face of a human or a face of an animal (e.g. dog, cat, and monkey).
• If theoperation206 cannot find a face in theimage204, the tagging application200 may terminate without tagging theimage204 and optionally alert the user that it failed to find a face (e.g. by showing a popup icon on the touchscreen). Conversely, ifoperation206 does find a face in theimage204, theoperation206 determines the location or area of theimage204 occupied by a face. The location of a face in theimage204 may be represented as a single point (i.e. Cartesian coordinate) which represents the center location of a face in theimage204, a single point together with a set of distance values which represent the dimensions of a geometrical shape which circumscribes the area of theimage204 occupied by a face relative to the single point, or a set of points in theimage204 which represent the parameters of a geometrical shape which circumscribes the area of theimage204 occupied by a face.
• FIG. 4 illustrates anexample image204 that may be captured by thedevice102 and processed by the tagging application200. Theimage204 includes aface402 and a torso of a human located in an office environment. Accordingly,operation206 proceeds to determine the location of theface402 in theimage204. An example representation for determining the location of theface402 in theimage204 according to one embodiment ofoperation206 is shown inFIG. 4. A reference location404 proximate to theface402 is selected along withdistances406 and408. The reference location404 represents a corner of arectangle410 with width and height corresponding todistances406 and408, respectively. In this example, the reference location404 is defined by Cartesian Coordinates (23, 21) and thedistances406 and408 are 30 pixels and 40 pixels, respectively. The area of theimage204 circumscribed by therectangle410 corresponds to an area of theimage204 containing theface402. Accordingly, the reference location404 anddistances406 and408 collectively represent the location of theface402 in theimage204. As described above, the location of theface402 in theimage204 may alternatively be defined using other geometric shapes or a set of points.
• In instances in which theimage204 contains more than one face,operation206 identifies the location of each face in theimage204. Each face is thereafter processed by the tagging application200 successively. In one embodiment, a user of the portableelectronic device102 may choose a face to process first by selecting the face using an input device integrated or coupled to the portable electronic device (e.g. touch screen110). In another embodiment,operation206 randomly selects an order for processing the faces in theimage204.
• Returning to the flowchart ofFIG. 2, afteroperation206 has determined the location of a face in theimage204,operation208 of the identification phase201aaccesses acontacts list209 which is stored in the portableelectronic device102. The contacts list209 is a collection of information that identifies or describes associates, acquaintances, friends, family, etc. of a user of themobile device102. Each entry in the contacts list209 corresponds to an individual contact and is associated with stored, identification information of the contact. The stored identification information may include a legal name, a contact image, a phone number, a home address, an email address, a facial signature and an alias. This information, including the contact image, may have been manually entered by the user. For instance, the contact image may have been a picture (previously taken using the built-in camera) which the user manually associated with the individual contact using a camera application running in the mobile device. The contacts list209 may be stored as a set of digital files in a memory module of thedevice102. In one embodiment, the contacts list209 is stored as an Extensible Markup Language (XML) file with associated image files representing contact images.
• FIG. 5 shows an example contacts list209 stored on the portableelectronic device102. The contacts list209 includes a set ofcontacts504 associated with a user of themobile device102. Eachcontact504 in the contacts list209 includes a set of attributes which comprise identification information of the contact. In the example contacts list209 ofFIG. 5, eachcontact504 includes acontact image506 and acontact name508, and a facial recognition signature510. Thecontact image506, thecontact name508, and the contact facial recognition signature510 collectively represent the identification information in the example contacts list209 ofFIG. 5.
• Returning again to the flowchart ofFIG. 2, after the contacts list209 has been retrieved, operation210 of the identification phase201adetermines if the face in theimage204 identified atoperation206 corresponds to or matches with any of the contacts in thecontacts list209. In one embodiment, the face is compared to contact images stored along with the contacts (e.g. contact images506 ofFIG. 5) to determine if the identified face is that of any of the contacts in thecontacts list209.
• Operation210 is passed thecontacts list209, and either theimage204 along with the location of the face in theimage204 determined atoperation206 or alternatively a cropped version of theimage204 which includes only the portion of theimage204 that includes the face. In other embodiments (described further below), operation210 is passed previously determined or computed, face recognition parameters or face signatures, for each of the contacts in thecontacts list209, and parameters or signatures for the face in theimage204.
• In one embodiment, matching of the face in theimage204 to contact images is performed using one or more facial recognition algorithms running in themobile device102. For example, facial features of the face are compared against corresponding facial features of faces in each contact image to locate similarities. If a contact image and the face in theimage204 share a requisite number of facial feature similarities, operation210 concludes a matching contact has been found. Alternatively, if the face in theimage204 does not share a requisite number of similarities with any of the contact images in thecontacts list209, operation210 concludes a matching contact cannot be found and returns this result to the user and subsequently terminates the tagging application200 or commences processing another face in theimage204 as appropriate.
• The facial recognition algorithms used by operation210 may include a traditional facial recognition algorithm, which analyzes the relative position, size, and/or shape of facial features such as eyes, a nose, cheekbones, and/or a jaw, a three-dimensional facial recognition algorithm, which identifies distinctive features on the surface of a face, such as the contour of the eye sockets, nose, and chin, and a skin texture algorithm which analyzes unique lines, patterns, and spots apparent on the skin of a face. As described above, in some embodiments, combinations of these algorithms may be used to determine a matching contact.
• In one embodiment, facial recognition signatures may have been previously computed or generated for each of the contacts in the contacts list and stored in themobile device102 along with the contacts, i.e. as part of the contacts list data structure. The facial recognition signatures represent key facial attributes associated with a contact that are used by face recognition algorithms to identify and distinguish faces in an image. For example, a facial recognition signature may include the distance between eyes in a contact image, the location of cheek bones in a contact image, abnormal features of a face in a contact image, etc. The facial recognition signatures may be generated a single time and thereafter may be re-used repeatedly by the tagging application to match a contact to a face in an image. In that case, the tagging process is faster since it is not necessary to analyze a contact image to determine the facial signature each time a new image is to be tagged.
• Based on the example contacts list502 shown inFIG. 5 and theexample face402 shown inFIG. 4, operation210 of the identification phase201awill likely conclude that contact504(3) is a matching contact for theface402, because theface402 shares many facial feature similarities with the face in the contact image506(3). In a further embodiment, the accuracy of the face identification may be enhanced when the system can also access a second database of images that have been mapped to individuals (who are likely to also appear in the user's contact list). The second database may be more complete than the contacts list data structure, in that it can have more instances of an individual's face. Thus, in operation210, a “second opinion” on the identity of a given face in theimage204 is computed, using the second database. The second database of images may be one that is maintained and associated with a more complex or dedicated high performance photography application that has been licensed for use by the user in particular, e.g., an instance of the iPhoto client application by Apple Inc., the Picassa Web-based picture album application, or the Facebook social networking Web site. The second database may be imported from or simply accessed via a wired or wireless data connection with another device, such as a desktop computer of the user or a server over the Internet. By using multiple sets or databases of images in this manner, the accuracy of the face detection algorithms performed in operation210 to identify the face in theimage204 is enhanced.
• After operation210 has determined a matching contact for a face in theimage204,operation212 may verify the accuracy of the matching contact by requesting input from a user of themobile device102. The user may manually confirm the accuracy or inaccuracy of the matching contact using an input device integrated or coupled to themobile device102. In one embodiment,operation212 presents identification information corresponding to the matching contact (taken from the contacts list502) and theimage204 to the user through thetouch screen110 of themobile device102.
• In one embodiment, if the user agrees that the face in theimage204 has been properly identified by operation210, the tagging application200 proceeds to the image tagging phase201b. However, if atoperation212 the user disagrees with the identification made at operation210, the tagging application200 terminates without proceeding to the tagging phase201bor commences processing another face in theimage204. In another embodiment, if atoperation212 the user disagrees with the identification made at operation210, the user is then prompted to enter correct identification information for the face. The correct identification information may be entered by the user through the use of an input device integrated or coupled to themobile device102 such as a virtual keyboard displayed on thetouch screen110. In this embodiment, the tagging application200 then proceeds to tag theimage104 with the user-entered (correct) identification information.
• FIG. 6 shows an example verification interface600 in which a user of themobile device102 may verify the accuracy of the matching contact found by operation210 of the tagging application200. In this example, the user is presented theimage204 fromFIG. 4 along withidentification information602 of the matching contact which was found in operation210 (e.g. contact504(3)'s name “Joe Dunn”). If the user agrees that theface402 in theimage204 has been properly identified at operation210 as contact504(3), the user may select virtual button604 (i.e. “YES”) represented on thetouch screen110 of the portableelectronic device102. Alternatively, if the user disagrees with the identification of theface402 in theimage204, the user may select virtual button606 (i.e. “NO”) on thetouch screen110 of the portableelectronic device102 and then enter correct identification information for theface402 in theimage204. The user also has the option of selecting virtual button608 (i.e. “Cancel”) to end the tagging process without tagging theimage204 with identification information of theface402.
• In yet another embodiment,operation212 may verify the accuracy of the matching contact by comparing this result with a larger catalog of faces that are known to be properly identified. For example,operation212 may verify the accuracy of the matching contact by comparing the matching contact and identification information with information stored by a digital photography application such as the iPhoto™ application; the latter may have been loaded and configured in themobile device100 by the user.
• Image Tagging Phase
• Following the positive verification of the match atoperation212, the tagging application200 proceeds to the image tagging phase201bwhere theimage204 may be tagged with identification information of a matching contact and prepared for transmission from the portableelectronic device102 to one or more recipient terminal's104.
• Referring toFIG. 2, the image tagging phase201bof the tagging application200 may begin atoperation214 by tagging theimage204 with identification information of a matching contact. In one embodiment, theimage204 is tagged by editing the metadata of an image or picture file216, under which theimage204 will be stored and transferred. This results in a taggedimage file216. In other words, the identification information of the matching contact will be added into a metadata field of thefile216. In one embodiment, a name (either legal or an alias) of the matching contact identified at operation210 and verified atoperation212 is inserted into the UserComment field of the metadata for the taggedimage file216. In this embodiment, the tagged image (or picture file216) may be an Exif file.
• FIG. 7 shows an example of howmetadata700 of theimage204 can be modified atoperation214 to include identification information of the contact504(3) which was identified by operation210 as the matching contact. Specifically, the UserComment field of themetadata700 has been modified such that it includes the name of contact504(3) (i.e. “Joe Dunn”).
• After theimage204 has been tagged with identification information of the matching contact, the taggedimage file216 is stored in a non-volatile memory of themobile device102.
• Returning toFIG. 2, after theimage204 has been tagged with identification information of the matching contact to form the taggedimage file216,operation218 prepares the taggedimage file216 to be sent to one ormore recipient terminals104 selected by the user. The user may be prompted to select the protocol with which the tagged image file will be sent to the recipient terminals (e.g. email, MMS) as well as the identity of the receipient terminal (e.g. a name selected from the user's contacts list; a manually entered email address or cellular telephone number.) The taggedimage file216 may be wrapped in a messaging protocol wrapper to form amultimedia message220. The messaging protocol may be the Multimedia Message Format (MMS) protocol used by telecommunications carriers.
• After being prepared for transmission, themultimedia message220 is transmitted (in operation222) over a network or direct connection to one ormore recipient terminals104 selected by the user. Transmission torecipient terminals104 may require that themultimedia message220 to be forwarded to one or more carrier store and forward servers (e.g. a MMSC server). The carrier store and forward servers may thereafter transmit themultimedia message220 to the one ormore recipient terminals104 selected by the user through the Internet and/or other network infrastructure.
• Upon receipt, therecipient terminals104 may unwrap themultimedia message220 to expose the taggedimage file216 using a message application that is capable of decoding and reading messages transmitted in the messaging protocol originally used to wrap the tagged image file atoperation218. The taggedimage file216 may then be opened and decoded by an image viewing application. In one embodiment, the image viewing application is capable of reading and then showing the identification information that was incorporated into the taggedimage file216 by the tagging application. For example, the taggedimage file216 may be uploaded to a Facebook® account and viewed using the image viewing application incorporated into the Facebook® website as shown inFIG. 8.FIG. 8 shows the taggedimage file216. In this example, the identification information (i.e. “Joe Dunn”) is listed below the image in theimage viewing application800.
• FIG. 9 illustrates a system diagram for one embodiment of animage tagging system900 which may operate in amobile device102. The components of thesystem900 may be implemented as various combinations of mechanical and electrical elements that can be found in a typical mobile device, e.g. microelectronic digital camera module, camera lens system, specially programmed processors (programmed in accordance with the algorithm ofFIG. 2), microelectronic memory (storage), and related interconnecting circuitry. In one embodiment, some or all of the algorithm operations of the image tagging application200 described above in connection withFIG. 2 may be performed by the components of theimage tagging system900 as described below. Note that some or all of the components depicted inFIG. 9 may be implemented entirely as hardwired logic circuits, however for greater flexibility, a combination of hardwired logic circuitry and programmable logic or data processing components may be used instead.
• Theimage tagging system900 may commence operation automatically in response to theimage204 being captured bycamera108 which is integrated in themobile device102, or after being manually invoked to operate upon theimage204 which was previously captured. Thecamera108 makes theimage204 available to the other system components of theimage tagging system900 through a push or pull data retrieval schema. In one embodiment,operation202 ofFIG. 2 may be performed by thecamera108.
• A face detector904 receives theimage204 from thecamera108 and scans the image to determine an area or areas of the image that contains a face. If the face detector904 cannot find a face in theimage204, theimage tagging system900 may terminate without tagging theimage204. Conversely, if the face detector904 does find a face in theimage204, the face detector904 determines and outputs the location or area of theimage204 occupied by a face; it may also display the area to the user, on a display screen of the mobile device. In one embodiment, the face detector904 outputs facial recognition parameters/signatures corresponding to the face in theimage204. In one embodiment,operation206 ofFIG. 2 may be performed by the face detector904.
• Acontacts list retriever906 retrieves the contacts list209 which is stored in the portableelectronic device102 and makes the contacts list209 available to the other system components of theimage tagging system900 through a push or pull data retrieval schema. In one embodiment, the contacts listretriever906 retrieves facial recognition parameters/signatures corresponding to contact images in the contacts list. In one embodiment,operation208 ofFIG. 2 may be performed by the contacts listretriever906.
• The facial recognition comparator908 receives/retrieves the location or area of theimage204 occupied by a face, theimage204, and thecontact list209. Thereafter, each contact image associated with contacts in the contacts list209 is compared against the area of theimage204 occupied by a face to determine a matching contact. The matching contact is made available to the other system components of theimage tagging system900 through a push or pull data retrieval schema. In one embodiment, the facial recognition comparator908 receives/retrieves facial recognition parameters/signatures corresponding to the face in theimage204 and compares these parameters/signatures against the facial recognition parameters/signatures corresponding to contact images in thecontacts list209. In one embodiment, operation210 ofFIG. 2 may be performed by the facial recognition comparator908.
• Theverification unit910 verifies the accuracy of the matching contact by requesting input from a user of the portableelectronic device102. The user may accordingly verify the accuracy or inaccuracy of the matching contact using an input device integrated or coupled to the portableelectronic device102. In one embodiment,operation212 ofFIG. 2 may be performed by theverification unit910.
• Thetagger912 receives/retrieves theimage204, the matching contact, and thecontacts list209 and tags theimage204 with identification information of a matching contact. In one embodiment, theimage204 is tagged by editing the metadata associated with theimage204, in a taggedimage file216 such that the metadata now includes identification information of the matching contact. Thetagger912 outputs the taggedimage file216 to the other system components of theimage tagging system900 through a push or pull data retrieval schema. In one embodiment,operation214 ofFIG. 2 may be performed by thetagger912.
• Thewrapper914 receives the tagged image from thetagger912 and prepares the taggedimage216 to be sent to one ormore recipient terminals104 selected by the user. The taggedimage216 may be wrapped in a messaging protocol to form amultimedia message220. The messaging protocol may be the Multimedia Message Format (MMS) protocol used by telecommunications carriers. In one embodiment,operation218 ofFIG. 2 may be performed by thewrapper914.
• Thetransmitter916 receives the tagged image from thewrapper914 and transmits themultimedia message220 over the network106 such that it may be received by one ormore recipient terminals104 selected by the user.
• In one embodiment,operation222 ofFIG. 2 may be performed by thetransmitter916.
• As discussed above, the operations ofimage tagging system900 may be allocated to the operations ofFIG. 2. However, the distribution of operations to theimage tagging system900 may be different than the specific examples shown above. For instance, the operations ofFIG. 2 may be distributed amongst a different set of components that make up theimage tagging system900.
• To conclude, various aspects of a technique for tagging an image using a contacts list stored in a portable electronic device have been described. As explained above, an embodiment of the invention may be a machine-readable medium such as one or more solid sate memory devices having stored thereon instructions which program one or more data processing components (generically referred to here as “a processor” or a “computer system”) to perform some of the operations described above. In other embodiments, some of these operations might be performed by specific hardware components that contain hardwired logic. Those operations might alternatively be performed by any combination of programmed data processing components and fixed hardwired circuit components.
• While certain embodiments have been described and shown in the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that such embodiments are merely illustrative of and not restrictive on the broad invention, and that the invention is not limited to the specific constructions and arrangements shown and described, since various other modifications may occur to those of ordinary skill in the art. For example, although the tagged image or picture file216, which contains theimage204, has been described in relation to a file containing Exif header components, the picture or image file may be in a different format. For example, theimage204 may be a frame in a video, such that the picture orimage file216 is actually a “vid eo file” with a different header format than an Exif. The description is thus to be regarded as illustrative instead of limiting.

Claims (25)

1. A computerized method for tagging an image captured by a mobile communications device, comprising:

capturing an image with a camera integrated in the device in response to a command from a user;

processing the image in the device to designate an area in the image that contains a face;

accessing a contact list of the user that is stored in the portable electronic device;

comparing the designated area with contact images of the user's contacts, obtained from accessing the contact list stored in the device, to determine identity of the face in the designated area; and

in response to the comparing, tagging the image with identification information of a matching contact.

2. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising:

wrapping the tagged image in a message transfer protocol to form a multimedia message; and

transmitting the multimedia message to an external device.

3. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising:

accessing a database of images separate from the contacts list, wherein the database includes multiple pictures of an individual; and

verifying the determined identify of the face in the designated area using the database of images.

4. The method ofclaim 1, wherein tagging the image with identification information comprises storing a name of the matching contact in a metadata header of the image.

5. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the user is prompted with the identification information prior to tagging the image such that the user may verify the accuracy of the identification information as it applies to the face in the image.

6. The method ofclaim 1, wherein comparing the designated area in the image with contact images of the user's contacts is performed using facial recognition algorithms.

7. The method ofclaim 5, wherein upon indicating that the identification information is inaccurate, the user is prompted to enter correct identification information or cancel tagging the image.

8. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the user is prompted to select a face, amongst a plurality of faces detected in the image, to process.

9. An article of manufacture comprising:

a machine readable computer storage medium having stored instructions that program a mobile communications device to

process an image stored in the device in accordance with a face recognition algorithm that can detect a face in the image, compare the detected face to face signatures belonging to a plurality of contacts in a contacts list of a user that is previously stored in the device, and

in response to the comparison, tag the image with identification information of one of the plurality of contacts whose face signature is sufficiently close to the detected face in the image.

10. The article of manufacture ofclaim 9, wherein the machine readable computer storage medium has stored instructions that program the mobile communications device to prompt the user for a shutter release command, to capture the image using a camera integrated in the device.

11. The article of manufacture ofclaim 9, wherein the machine readable computer storage medium has instructions that program the mobile device to:

wrap the tagged image in a multimedia message transfer protocol to form a multimedia message; and

transmit the multimedia message to an external device.

12. The article of manufacture ofclaim 9, wherein the machine readable computer storage medium has instructions that program the mobile device to:

generate a face signature for a new contact image in the contacts list upon the new contact image being added to the contact list.

13. The article of manufacture ofclaim 9, wherein the instructions program the mobile device to tag the image with identification information by storing a name, of said one of the plurality of contacts whose face signature is sufficiently close to the detected face, in metadata of the image.

14. The article of manufacture ofclaim 9, wherein the instructions program the mobile device to present the user with the identification information prior to tagging the image such that the user may verify the accuracy of the identification information as it applies to the face in the image or cancel tagging the image.

15. The article of manufacture ofclaim 14, wherein the instructions program the mobile device to prompt the user to enter correct information when the presented identification information is incorrect.

16. A system comprising:

a mobile handheld communications device having

a camera,

a face detector to process an image captured by the camera, to designate an area in the image that contains a face,

a contacts list retriever to access a contact list of a user that is stored in the device,

a comparator to compare the designated area in the image with face signatures of the user's contacts obtained from accessing the contact list stored in the device, to determine the identity of the face in the designated area of the image, and

a tagger to tag the image with identification information of a matching face signature in response to an output of the comparator.

17. The system ofclaim 16, further comprising:

a wrapper to wrap the tagged image in a message transfer protocol to form a multimedia message; and

a transmitter to transmit the multimedia message to an external device.

18. The system ofclaim 16, further comprising:

a database retriever to access a database of images separate from the contacts list, wherein the database includes multiple pictures of an individual; and

a validation unit to verify the determined identify of the face in the designated area using the database of images.

19. The system ofclaim 16, wherein tagging the image with identification information comprises storing a name associated with the matching contact image in the metadata header of the image.

20. The system ofclaim 16, further comprising:

a verification unit to prompt the user with the identification information prior to tagging the image such that the user may verify the accuracy of the identification information as it applies to the face in the image.

21. The system ofclaim 16, wherein comparing the designated area in the image with contact images of the user's contacts is performed using facial recognition algorithms.

22. The system ofclaim 20, wherein upon indicating that the identification information is inaccurate, the user is prompted to enter correct identification information.

23. A mobile communications device, comprising:

a means for capturing an image;

a means for processing the image to designate an area in the image that contains a face;

a means for retrieving a contacts list of a user that is stored in the device;

a means for comparing the designated area in the image with face signatures of the user's contacts obtained from retrieving the contact list stored in the device, to determine the identity of the face in the designated area of the image; and

a means for tagging the image with identification information of a matching face signature in response to an output of the means for comparing.

24. The mobile communications device ofclaim 23, further comprising:

a means for wrapping the tagged image in a message transfer protocol to form a multimedia message; and

a means for transmitting the multimedia message to an external device.

25. The mobile communications device ofclaim 23, wherein the means for tagging the image with identification information comprises storing a name associated with the matching contact image in the metadata header of the image to form the tagged image.

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